


Serpentine Hearts

by ordinarylittleme



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (not really though), F/F, he only appears once
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-06 22:26:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10345872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ordinarylittleme/pseuds/ordinarylittleme





	

“Dolores Umbridge has been imprisoned!”  
Rita closed her eyes and let herself remember the girl who she once loved, a long time ago now it seemed(it was only really a quarter of a century).

“Excuse me where is the toilet?” Then, a tap on her shoulder.  
Rita turned around and saw the prettiest girl to ever live, she had brown hair that was cut into a chic bob and had a pink butterfly clip in it to keep the longest parts out of her eyes. She clutched a third-year Charms textbook with her, which was odd because if she was a third-year, why would she need to be told where the toilet was?  
“I’ve transferred from Ilvermorny,” the girl replied after Rita asked. “My name is Dolores Umbridge, what’s yours?”  
“My name is Rita Skeeter, nice to meet you.”

She had fallen for the younger girl when they kissed at a party, Dolores was just a little more drunk than Rita. They were friends, Rita was very popular amongst girls like Bellatrix Black and Abelie Zabini, whereas Dolores only ever really had Rita to chat with because she wasn’t too popular, to put it nicely. Abelie had turned seventeen and brought out way too much Firewhiskey, Rita couldn’t complain though as she woke up with Dolores by her side, a little smile on her lips as she asked why Rita couldn’t let her share the blanket too.  
(She wrote an article about it. No one has ever known it existed.)  
On graduation night Dolores broke up with her, she was going to marry Corban Yaxley a boy who had always admired her. Rita hated that boy, he had this hobby of breaking all the quills he owned and once pulled her braid, how old was he sixteen or six? And even if he didn’t break quills, a habit Rita found _horrifying_ , she would not even like let alone marry a boy who pushed students down staircases and off their brooms and never said please or thank you to anything.  
“I understand,” Rita had said, but no she didn’t understand, what except for a penis did Yaxley have that she didn’t? She had the money, more than him in fact because her parents had left her everything they had, and even though she was a half-blood it didn’t matter to Dolores(did it?). But she didn’t ask that question because Dolores was happy with him and Rita would let her be happy, even if it wasn’t with her.

(That’s a lie. The day after they graduate, Rita becomes the Prophet’s newest reporter and relishes in destroying the Yaxley family’s reputation through a snide comment.)

It was twenty-four years later when she finally sees Dolores again, by this time her reputation was established as a gossipy reporter who was unscrupulous as to how much truth her stories had, Dolores meanwhile had been a very successful politician and was making a bid for the Minister’s position. Both of them have fallen from grace, Rita’s former classmates now sneer at the sight of her, all but lovely Abelie who had helped her buy her current apartment. She has been sent to write an article about Azkaban and three guesses for who she saw there.  
“Dolores?” Rita whispers. It feels weird, after so long, to see her ex-girlfriend like this.  
“It’s me, Rita. Locked up and everything,” the other woman laughs, bitterness laced into her tone. There’s an old pink clip on her hair, guess that never changed then. “Corban’s going to be receiving the Kiss with me, you know?”  
Rita’s heart breaks-the woman she never forgot has been imprisoned and she will be receiving the Kiss with her husband, the boy-no, man that used to treat students like Rita like shit beneath his feet. But one last thing before she goes.  
She leans in and brushes her lips against the prisoner’s and finds that old taste of strawberries, Rita’s heart breaks all over again.

(The day Dolores receives the Kiss, Rita writes one sentence, then burns the parchment. _I’m sorry I never tried to find you again._ )


End file.
